Stonington ― With a third government contract award under its belt in as many months, local technology firm Rite-Solutions is confident its unusual business model is paying off.

“There’s this model of ‘everything feeds the customer; the customer is at the center of everything.’ We took a different approach,” Rite-Solutions co-founder and CEO Joe Marino said on Tuesday.

Marino said the company began 25 years ago with a philosophy of focusing on its employees, and trusting that by making its employees happy, its employees would make the customers happy.

With last week’s announcement of a five-year, $10.7 million U.S. Navy contract, that approach has netted the veteran-owned small business, with offices in Pawcatuck, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Middletown, R.I., more than $150 million in government contracts in the last three months.

“It was a little bit of a gamble starting out, saying if we concentrate, not so much on the client, but on the people who support the client and assume they are just going to do the right thing by the client, will that pay dividends,” he explained.

“I’d say we’ve been successful right out of the gate, but I think this last couple of months really validates our model,” he added.

Under the latest contract, the company will provide hardware and software development, from analysis and design to training and installation, for shore-based electronic warfare and electronic support training systems for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, R.I.

The training systems provide realistic simulations to train submarine sailors in combat, support and auxiliary operations like anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, surveillance and reconnaissance, special warfare and navigation.

“Our culture is a big discriminator in this industry. That’s why I think that we get these resources, even though we are a small company,” he said.

Marino said the culture is vital for the growing company that must compete with larger, deeper-pocketed firms for a narrow pool of workers who are not just highly skilled, but can also meet strict defense contract security requirements, that often require secret and top-secret level security clearances.

“Everybody brags about their culture, but it’s if you walk the talk. I’m proud of not only the fact that we get these folks in, but our attrition rate is pretty low,” he said, adding the company has been named one of the best places to work in Rhode Island by Providence Business News two years in a row and has received three U.S. Department of Labor Platinum HIRE Vets Medallion Awards.

Marino said the company of 475 is actively hiring, currently looking to fill 38 positions for its latest contract, and is looking to hire up to 50 employees in the next year.